Learning that his days are numbered, sixty-year-old Vasile Carturan sets about putting his affairs in order and providing for the future of his orphaned grandson, a teenager who is in his care. Nothing turns out to be simple, however, and every step presents a challenge for him. All the more so because he also intends to hold a funeral banquet while he is still alive, as tradition dictates, a plan opposed by the village priest. But Carturan has no intention of giving way.